Cyprus celebrates Europe Day while contributing to the Union’s objectives, Spokesman says

As an EU member state, the Republic of Cyprus celebrates today with the rest of the European family the vision of European integration and contributes in a substantial way towards this goal, as well as towards the fulfillment of the Union’s objectives, Government Spokesman Prodromos Prodromou says.

In a written statement on the occasion of Europe Day, Prodromou also says that during the past decades, the EU secured conditions of peace, cooperation and prosperity for hundreds of millions of European citizens, making armed conflicts a thing of the past.

According to the announcement from the Presidency of the Republic, Prodromou further notes that European values and principles, as well as the EU acquis, comprise within this framework the basis that will secure that a Cyprus settlement � which is an EU problem � will be viable and functioning and will safeguard human rights and fundamental freedoms for all legal residents on the island.

The Republic of Cyprus, which became a full EU member state in 2004, has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Numerous UN-backed rounds of negotiations to reunite the island under a federal roof have not yielded any result yet.